


fight or flight

by kareofbears



Series: Escapril [27]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:16:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23884378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kareofbears/pseuds/kareofbears
Summary: It's Valentine's day and Ryuji just wants to see his best friend.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: Escapril [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685116
Comments: 9
Kudos: 147





	fight or flight

**Author's Note:**

> if yall want a banger, i truly recommend Six Feet Apart by Alec Benjamin. nothing to do with the fic, its just a good song

Ryuji raises his knuckles against the glass door to Leblanc for the fifth time before groaning. He must look like a maniac; pacing in front of a run-down cafe for the past fifteen minutes, mumbling to himself, waving around a bouquet of flowers, and, not to mention, the occasional yell. 

"Ugh, _fuck!_ " He screams at the sky, hoping for a deity to strike him where he stands. Angrily stomping around the backstreet of Yongen-Jaga, hoping that by the time he rounds back to the cafe he'll finally, _finally_ gain the courage to just _knock._

He does not. 

Ryuji takes a deep breath, and determinedly marches to the door. This is it. This is the one. He's going to knock, and Akira's going to answer, and he's going to see Ryuji and he's going to smile and then Ryuji'll smile and then they'll have a fan-fucking-tastic Valentine's day. Raising his fist with confidence, he goes to knock.

...only to stop and groan even louder.

Ryuji squats in front of the door, and screams very gently. "I've beaten God," he mumbles. "I have a magical being who can beat the shit out of people, I know how to use a gun, I am capable, I am strong, I can _do_ this, you fucking coward." He slaps his thigh and stands up. 

He almost falls over when he sees Sojiro in front of him, amused. 

"You know, I was wondering who the hell was driving my sales away when I heard some pretty loud mumbling out here."

"B-Boss!" Ryuji stutters, scrambling to stand up from the street. "Happy Valentine's! Haha! Is...is that weird to say? Well, you know, it's um, uh, a national holiday, so—"

"Akira's inside."

Ryuji flushes red. "R-right. Thanks for the heads up."

He's about to step through the threshold when Sojiro places a heavy hand on his shoulder, and Ryuji absolutely does not flinch.

"Those flowers for him?" Sojiro asks, eyeing the (somewhat crumpled) bouquet. 

"Yes, sir."

After a moment, Sojiro nods. He throws him a somewhat discreet smile. "You've got more guts than I thought, kid. I'm heading out for the night, so make sure you show him a good time." The hand on his shoulder squeezes a fraction tighter for a second, just enough to convey a message. "Just not too good, you hear me?" 

Finally, he releases him. Ryuji counts it as a win that he doesn't stumble. "Sure th-thing! Haha!" He needs to stop laughing or else Sojiro might genuinely think that something's wrong with him. And to be honest, he's probably not too far off the mark.

Sojiro leaves, bell ringing as the door shuts close. How Akira can possible hold up against that man on a daily basis is surely the reason he's the leader of the Phantom Thieves. 

Ryuji glares at the staircase leading up to his room. For a split second, he lets himself imagine turning around and running headfirst out of LeBlanc and burying himself underneath his bed; safe and in the dark. 

But he can't even imagine the amount of shit he'd get if he did it. Makoto would probably make him a slideshow about how much an idiot he is, and Yusuke might even paint something as 'his cowardice has inspired him.' Ann might just straight up spit on him. He won't even let himself imagine a disappointed Haru—not with the (oh god it's getting worse, it's _wilting_ now)  
beautiful red roses she picked out for him.

_"If it's romance you want," she said cheerfully. "Roses are the way to go! There are hardly any other flowers out there that can possibly showcase love like them!"_

Not to mention, if he doesn't do this, he'd probably never be able to forgive himself. Not with Akira leaving so soon. Not with this being his last chance for a very, very long time.

Ryuji takes a deep breath, slaps himself on the face, tightens his grip on the bouquet, puffs up his chest, and all but sprints up the stairs. He's about to yell 'pardon the intrusion!" when his voice dies in his throat.

In front of him, Akira stands, eyes wide, holding a perfect bouquet of yellow roses. 

"I..." Akira blinks. "Didn't think you'd be here. I was just about to call you."

"Sorry," Ryuji swallows. "Thought it'd be better to surprise you."

Akira looks at the flowers in Ryuji's hand. "Are those for me?" He asks, soft, so soft, and Ryuji's heart clenches. He could be talking about a briefcase filled with a million yen and Ryuji would _still_ hand it over, no question, if it means that Akira'll use that tone again.

"Yeah. Um, Haru helped me picked them out, because you know, roses—"

"Are the way to go," Akira finishes, and the two of them burst out laughing. 

"Oh man," Ryuji grins. "We got played, didn't we?"

"We really did," Akira replies, eyes filled with mirth. "I don't mind, though."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Because now," he offers the bouquet to Ryuji, cheeks slightly pink. "I get to spend Valentine's with my best friend."

Ryuji ducks his head. "Ugh, totally unfair. You're not allowed to be good at this."

"Well," Akira says, smiling wider. "I don't think you're too bad at this yourself."

He grins, and offers Akira his own set of flowers. 

Akira may be leaving, but that's a problem for another day. For now, he thinks he has himself a date for Valentine's. 

"How about we learn together, then?"

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, you cool cat  
> Edit: someone kindly pointed out that yellow roses are for friendship but that is not the case for this fic. I just wanted them color coordinated :-)


End file.
